Digital Discourse / Archives for america invents act

Patent Reform makes tracks, Cybersecurity and Privacy

June 28, 2011 By

The patent reform train continued moving down the tracks last week, as the House passed the America Invents Act (H.R. 1249) by a vote of 304-117. As passed, the bill differs in several respects from the Senate version that passed several months ago, including how it deals with fee diversion, tax strategy patents, prior user rights, prior art, and some other issues. Despite the differences and a heavy debate about the fee diversion issue, discussions are ongoing about a strategy to reconcile the two versions or perhaps seek Senate passage of the House bill. Regardless, the strong bipartisan support for the legislation in both chambers make for good odds on enactment of patent reform.

On the cybersecurity front, last week House Speaker John Boehner appointed a 12-member Republican task force to assess the state of cybersecurity, including the Administration’s proposal, and provide recommendations by October. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), who was appointed to lead on this issue earlier this year, will lead the task force, joined by Reps. Aderholt (R-AL), Chaffetz (R-UT), Coffman (R-CO), Goodlatte (R-VA), Hurt (R-VA), Latta (R-OH), Lungren (R-CA), McCaul (R-TX), Murphy (R-PA), Stivers (R-OH) and Terry (R-NE).

Also last week, the Supreme Court decided a case that looks to be a major victory for data publishers. In the case Sorrell vs. IMS Health the Court confirmed an appeals court decision that a Vermont law prohibiting the use of physician prescribing data for marketing purposes. While Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion expressed concerns about the “serious and unresolved” issues with respect to personal privacy, the ruling confirmed that the law unfairly imposed a first Amendment burden “based on the content of speech and the identity” of pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. In short, the ruling holds that such commercial speech is equally entitled to the protections of the First Amendment.

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Filed Under: Copyright, Court Cases, Digital Policy Roundup, Government, Patent, Policy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Patent reform debate continues with considerable provisions

March 8, 2011 By

Debate on patent reform (S. 23, the America Invents Act, formerly called the Patent Reform Act of 2011) continues in the Senate through this week. The Senate voted to limit debate on Monday night, so the bill will come up for a vote as early as Tuesday, but no later than the end of this week.

The bill has been amended considerably over the last week, and currently contains many provisions that would improve the U.S. patent system and patent quality, including ending patent fee diversion.
However, there are still several provisions SIIA is concerned with, so we will continue to be heavily engaged on this issue through further Senate debate, as well as in the House.

As we reported in the past, the House is taking a more deliberative approach with respect to drafting and considering companion legislation in Committee. Stay tuned.

Also coming soon, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), one of the key congressional leaders on privacy, is expected to introduce privacy legislation soon, and follow with a hearing in his Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet next week.

For SIIA policy updates, including upcoming events, news and analysis, subscribe to SIIA’s weekly policy email newsletter, Digital Policy Roundup.

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Filed Under: Digital Policy Roundup, Policy Tagged With: , ,